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Here's a Solar Glossary for you. There's no one single thing
that is very difficult about solar. It's a bunch of fairly simple stuff.
Throughout this website, if you see a term underlined, that link will take you
here to (hopefully) clear up any confusion you may have.
Still have a question? Shoot us an email |
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Solar System Component |
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Where it goes |
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A |
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AC Disco:
Many utilities require an AC disconnect between a grid-tie inverter and the
main service entrance, however some don't. AC discos come in two flavors;
1) an inexpensive fuse-pull type and 2) a more expensive unit with a visible and lockable
handle. A 30-amp 240-volt disconnect is good for up to 5kW of solar and the
60-amp disconnect is good for up to 11kW. TSG kits come with the proper AC
disconnect and fuses for your system and location. |
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AC Conductors : The AC
conductors start at the output of the inverter and end at your main service
panel. Along the route they may go to an AC disco or a sub-panel.
These wires carry the clean energy produced by the inverter to your house and/or
back to the grid. Typically there's a black (L1) an Red (L2) a White
(Neutral) and Green (equipment ground). Proper AC conductors are included
in your TSG kit. |
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AC Fuses: AC fuses provide
Over-current Protection for you AC conductors between the AC disco and the
inverter as well as the conductors between the AC disco and the conductor.
When you're preparing your permit its a good idea to call your Building & Safety
department to find out if they require a fused or non-fused AC disco. They
may not require one at all. Most do so call and check. You don't want to
install the wrong one and then have to run new conduit or make new holes in the
wall if you install the wrong one. |
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Array: Simply, a group of
modules. If you have modules on one side of your roof and some others on a
different pitch, then you would refer to these groups as "arrays" |
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Asphalt Composition:
Also referred to as 'comp'. The most common roofing types in
the United States for a variety of reasons. They are relatively inexpensive,
starting at around $0.80 per square foot installed and go up from there.
Asphalt shingles are very simple to install enabling many homeowners to do the
work themselves. They come in a variety of colors and styles, are fairly
durable, and can be easily repaired and maintained. |
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B |
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C |
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Circuit Breaker
: A circuit breaker is an Over Current Protection Device that
you are probably familiar with when the lights go out and you have to go "flip
the breaker". In a grid-tied residential PV system this is the most common
method of connection to the grid. Your inverter will be BACKFEEDING the grid
through this 2-pole (240V) circuit breaker. |
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Complete Solar Kits:
Are a super-complete solar systems whose Bill of Materials (picklist) is custom
designed on a per customer basis. That means the number of rail, clamps, feet,
wire sizes & length, conduit size, and disconnect requirements are all provided
in the quantities for YOUR project minimizing wasteful overspending.
More info here |
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Cord Grip : An electrical
connector that allows a wire to enter a j-box and provides an environmental seal
against dirt, moistures, bugs and the like. These may also be referred to
as strain reliefs. On a solar system these installed on the j-box to allow the
home runs to enter. |
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Conductors :
A fancy word for electrical wire. Anything that
CONDUCTS electricity can be thought of as a CONDUCTOR (including you so be
careful). In a solar system there's 3 main groups of conductors. There's
your DC Conductors, your AC conductors and then 3rd your grounding conductors.
TSG kits come will all conductors necessary to safely wire up your system. |
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Conduit : Conduit is a fancy name for pipe. It's
basically a protective tube for electrical wires (conductors). In the
United States the NEC requires most types of conductors to be ran in some form
of conduit. In a solar system you will have conduit running from the j-box
on the roof down to the inverter. The conduit may run in the attic or
along the exterior of the house. Conduit can be rigid or flexible. Coastal areas
may prohibit metal conduit (EMT) and desert areas may not be the best for PVC
because of quick deterioration. Your TSG kit will come with conduit based on
your systems needs. |
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Conduit Bodies :These
pieces allow you to make a sharp 90 turns to the left, right, back. The
have a lid to help facilitate pulling the conductors through the conduit. A
small assortment of these are included in your TSG kit |
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Conduit Straps: These are
little metal brackets that secure your conduit to the wall. By NEC code
you need to have these located every 5'. In each TSG Kit these kits are
included |
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Conduit T/A:
This fitting is also known as a "termination". It's
used to attach conduit to a box (eg AC disco, j-box, inverter, service entrance) |
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Couplers-Conduit :
Joins two pieces of conduit. A handful of couplers are included in your
TSG solar kit. They are rated for outdoor use (raintight) |
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Crayon: We are talking about a LUMBER crayon
here, not you kid's crayons. See below LUMBER
CRAYON |
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Ground Mount Pole Couplers: |
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D |
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DC Disconnect :
The DC disconnect is used to safely interrupt the flow of electricity from the
PV array. It´s an essential component when system maintenance or troubleshooting
is required. The disconnect enclosure houses an electrical switch rated for use
in DC circuits. It also may integrate either circuit breakers or fuses, if
needed. Today most DC disconnects are integrated into the inverter. |
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Dowel Pins: Small
wooden dowel pins are included in your kit to repair holes in your roof when you
miss a rafter. Even an installer that has installed 100's of systems
misses a rafter so don't feel bad. Stick the dowel pin in the caulk gun
and get some sealant on it, then pound it in with a hammer. |
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E |
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End Clamps:Secure the last
module by clamping down on the module frame to the rail. For any given row
of modules on your roof there will be 4 end-clamps. (2) on the left and (2) on
the right. End clamps can vary in quantity wildly for a system depending on how
its installed. A 32 module job could be (2) rows of 16 thus requiring (8) end
clamps. The same number of modules if installed as numerous small
groups can multiple the required number of End Clamps quickly. The other type of
clamp is the END clamp which goes at the END of a row of modules. Click the
picture for a great view of this part |
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Engage Cable - Wiring Harness: The Engage Cable
Wiring Harness makes wiring your solar modules very easy. The cable is
similar to the way Christmas tree lights because at even intervals there is a
socket. You simply run the Engage cable along the rail and then each
inverter simply plugs into a socket on the Engage Cable. The very end is
terminated with the Engage Cable Terminator. |
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Expected Savings from Offset: The
amount of money you can expect to save is
the amount of energy you produced
X the
rate at which you paid for it.
Due to the tiered nature of many utilities billing
structure, the amount of savings you will experience will be greatly affected by
where the offset is applied. Two Examples:
#1 A small system produces 400kWh in any given month.
Customer A is a light electrical consumer and uses 450kWh on any given month.
Most of Customer's 450kWh usage is in Tier 1 for which the national average is
14 cents/kWh so that would offset $56
#2 The same small system on Customer B produces the same
400kWh in any given month. Customer B is a vey heavy consumer, using
2,500kWh/month. The 400kWh produced by the same system would be applied to
Tier 5 at around 28 cents or $112
Customer B's payback is literally half of Customer A's |
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F |
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Fast Jack: A
structural attachment designed for asphalt composition roofs. These posts
provide a safe and secure method of attaching the rails to the roof. A
small aluminum base is secured to the roof with a 5/16" stainless steel lag bolt
into the rafter. A riser (shaft) is then threaded into the base unit and
tighten down with set of pliers. The rail can then directly be bolted to
the top of the Fast Jack post by a hole with a female thread on top of it or
installed on to "leveling kits" threaded into the post top.
Here is the installation manual for
Fast Jack. |
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Fuses DC : Fuses are an Over Current Protection
Device (OCPD) The DC fuses in a solar system protect the conductors and other
electrical components from too much current coming from the solar array.
This can usually be attributed to the insulating jacket on a DC conductor being
nicked or pinched. The DC fuses are most commonly found in the DC
disconnect or a fused j-box up on the roof. There's also a small 1A fuse in the
inverter known as the GFDI fuse. TSG TIP: The DC fuses must be
matched to the solar module you are using. They come in 1A, 5A, 10A and 15A for
most solar residential grid-tied applications. Our kits will come with the
proper fuses. |
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Fuses AC:AC
fuses provide Over-current Protection for you AC conductors between the AC disco
and the inverter as well as the conductors between the AC disco and the
conductor. When you're preparing your permit its a good idea to call your
Building & Safety department to find out if they require a fused or non-fused AC
disco. They may not require one at all. Most do so call and check.
You don't want to install the wrong one and then have to run new conduit or make
new holes in the wall if you install the wrong one. |
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G |
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GFDI :
Ground Fault Detection and Interrupt The purpose of the GFDI is to detect low
levels of ground currents and interrupt any faults within specified limits. GFDI
is a key electrical protection feature that became mandatory for photovoltaic
systems in 2007.
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Grounding Electrode Conductor:
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Ground
Lugs - These are used to ground your modules and racking from static
build up and system ground faults. Each module and each rail will have
a ground lug installed. The are attached by a #8 stainless steel bolt,
washer, and kep nut. The kep nut has a "star" washer attached and gouges
the surface of the rail and modules to break through the surface layer of
anodization. |
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H |
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Home Runs:
Are the wires that connect the ends of a series of modules
back to the j-box positive side of the first module in a string to the j-box and
the negative side of the last module in the string. In the picture to the right;
string 1 positive is green, string 1 negative is blue, string 2 positive is pink,
string 2 negative is orange.
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Inverter:
Inverters transform the DC electricity produced by your PV modules into the
alternating current (AC) electricity commonly used in most homes for powering
lights, appliances, and other gadgets. Grid-tied inverters synchronize the
electricity they produce with the grid’s utility grade AC electricity, allowing
the system to feed solar-made electricity to the utility grid. In solar,
inverters come in two types. String inverters are
convert all the DC power from the entire array to AC. Micro-inverters are
mounted under each module and convert just the DC power from that module.
From an installation stand-point the wiring is all that is different. As
the homeowner a string inverter requires mounting on a wall and it's the size of
a small microwave oven. |
Microinverter |
String Inverter |
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Intermodule Clamp
(mid-clamp): These are the clamps that go between any given two modules.
Mid-clamps are slightly less tall than the module is in thickness. This allows
for a clamping when the hex bolt is tightened. The other type of clamp is
the END clamp which goes at the END of a row of modules. Click the picture for a
great view of this part |
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The J-Box : This box is located on the roof
attached to one of the rails. The purpose of this box is to house and
protect the DC wire connectors from the environment. From one side of the
box the DC Home Runs via USE-2 conductors enter through a
cord-grip. These
wires are then transitioned to a much less expensive THWN-2 for the "long"
journey down to the inverter. We don't use wire nuts in our kits we
provide top-of-the-line INSULATED TAP CONNECTORS as a means to splice these
wires. |
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K |
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Lumber Crayon: A
marking crayon used during layout to identify all sort of things: array
corners, rows, rails, good holes, bad holes, rafters, which tile to remove. |
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M |
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Main
Service Entrance:
The main service panel (or entrance) is the point at which all of a home’s
electrical wiring meets with the provider of the electricity (the grid). This
wall-mounted panel or box is usually installed in a utility room, basement,
garage, or on the exterior of the building. It contains a number of labeled
circuit breakers that route electricity to the various rooms throughout a house.
These breakers allow electricity to be disconnected for servicing, and also
protect the building’s wiring against electrical fires. |
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Modules:
PV panels are a solar-electric system’s defining component, where sunlight is
used to make direct current (DC) electricity. Behind a PV panel’s shimmering
facade, wafers of semiconductor material work their magic, using light (photons)
to generate electricity—what’s known as the photovoltaic effect. Other
components in your system enable the electricity from your solar-electric panels
to safely power your electric loads like lights, computers, and refrigerators.
PV panels are assigned a rating in watts (PTC) based on the maximum power
they can produce under ideal sun and temperature conditions. You can use the
rated PTC output to help determine how many panels you’ll
need to meet your electrical needs. Multiple modules combined together are
called an array.
Although rigid panels are the most common form of solar electricity
collector, PV technology also has been integrated into roofing shingles and
tiles, and even peeland-stick laminates (for metal standing-seam roofs).
PV modules are very durable and long lasting—most carry 25-year warranties.
They can withstand severe weather, including extreme heat, cold, and hail
stones. |
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Module Connectors :
(MC-4/Tyco):
These connectors are used to connect your home run wires
to the first and last modules in a string. They can also be used with the
proper wire to make series connection or 'jumpers' between two modules in a
string that are not close to each other. Based on your layout we
willinclude the proper quantity for your project. |
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On Hundred Twenty
Percent Rule : The 120% rule protects the main buss bars in a service
panel from over use. The rule acknowledges that the buss bars can handle
120% of the cabinet rating. Therefore the circuit break you want to back feed
with PLUS the main CB must be less than 120% of the cabinet rating.
Learn more about the 120% rule here. |
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Power Strut Clamps:
These are usually used as a way to secure conduit to unistrut.
In your solar installation you will use them to hold the conduit to the pier
block. A handful of these are included in you TSG solar kit. |
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Placards:
The
National Electric Code (NEC) requires multiple warning and informational
placards on your PV system. Every city/county has slightly different
labeling requirements which MAY exceed these minimums. You'll learn about
the requirements at permit time. |
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Q |
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R |
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Racking:
A solar racking system is made up of 3 parts. 1. There are 'feet'
or posts that attach to the rafters of your roof. 2. Long cross
rails will be mounted and leveled. 3.
Clamps which hold the modules to the rails
are slid into approximate locations |
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Rails:
The rails are what support the solar modules. Each row of modules will
take two lengths of rails. The rails are made of aluminum and they're
supported by 'feet' or stanchions. Good rails will be anodized to prevent
discoloration due to oxidation. The rails come in lengths of 136" (13'4") |
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Rivets: In solar we use rivets
to securely fasten the placards to the electrical components. The placards
come with strong double sided tape, but after years in the weather the tape can
fail so it's common to rivet the placards. A handful come with our kits. |
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Sealant: It's used to prevent
leaks on the roof where the posts/feet/stanchion (structural attachments) secure to the roof.
One tube will seal approximately 6-10. |
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Self-procurement
- A money saving tactic used by a homeowner to reduce the cost of an
expensive home improvement project. Step Two involves either self-installation
or hiring labor to perform some or all of the the installation. Self-procurement
eliminates contractor mark-up on parts and takes advantage of current labor
conditions (an abundance of affordable contractors) to yield significant savings
and reduce Return on Investment. |
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Site Plan: Is a page (usually
page-2) in a Solar Permit Package that shows a top down view of a building and
the proposed location of your solar equipment. Requirements vary widely
from one area to another on what is required information. At a minimum your
local Building &Safety department will want to see the footprint of the
building, the property lines, a north pointing arrow, location of; modules,
inverters, disconnects. If systems is ground mounted, expect to provide
setbacks, septic, leech fields, and proposed trenching. |
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Solar Permit Package:
A document used to obtain permission to install a solar system on your roof
from the city or county your reside in. Usually comprised of a Cover Page, a
Site Plan, Structural, and an Electrical. Also included are the spec
sheets from the various manufacturers which show the UL certifications and other
technical specifications of the components. |
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Solar Wedge: A
structural attachment used on flat roof situations. They come in 5, 10, &
15 degree angles. The pair of posts (the taller back and the shorter
front) are installed on a 48" span. So you can install them parallel or across
the rafter structure, assuming 24" on-center's |
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Splice Kit : An aluminum part
that joins two pieces of solar rail. |
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Sun Hours:
Here is a map over the U.S. that gives peak sun hours on
solar panels that are stationary and pointing south towards the sun. They give
the average number for a period over a year and the numbers can be used directly
in calculations for electrical output of your solar panel and give a much better
indication of solar power generated than ordinary figures, that are for a
horizontal or flat surface. |
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String: a group of modules
wired in series to form an electrical circuit that generates enough voltage to
power an inverter but not too much to blow it. This is where solar design and
engineering comes in to play. String 'lengths' are generally in the 6-14 module
length. |
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Tile Track: A
structural attachment designed for tile roofs. These posts provide a safe
and secure method of attaching the rails to the roof. A small aluminum
base is secured to the roof with a 5/16" stainless steel lag bolt into the
rafter. A riser (an all-thread) is then threaded into an adjustable base
(slider) which can be positioned to allow for the best place to rise through the
tile. The all-thread penetrates the tile and the rail can then directly be
bolted to the all-thread by being sandwiched between two nuts and two flat
washers top. Here is the
installation manual for Tile Trac. |
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USE-2: Wire that is used under the
arrays as "home runs" This wire connects the positive end of the 1st
module in a string to the j-box and similarly the negative end of teh last
module in a string. |
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Zip Ties:
Are used in
your PV system to bundle the slack and aide in routing the home run and series
wires. Make sure you use the balack ons not the white.. White are for
indoor. Black has UV resistance |
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